


Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down

by Andromytta



Series: Vegas Nights [3]
Category: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Genre: BDSM Scene, Crime Scenes, F/M, Lady Heather's Dominion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-21
Updated: 2018-04-21
Packaged: 2019-04-25 22:10:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14388138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Andromytta/pseuds/Andromytta
Summary: Detective Jude Harrison is given an interesting undercover assignment that may have repercussions on her budding relationship with CSI Greg Sanders.





	Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down

 

Greg and Jude are sitting in her kitchen enjoying a pot of Blue Hawaiian coffee.  “When do you go back to work?” Greg asks.

 

“Two nights from now,” Jude responds.

 

“Really?  Me too!” Greg says, a little _too_ enthusiastically.

 

Jude raises a perfectly manicured red-orange eyebrow at him.  “What do you have in mind, Sanders?”

 

“Well, Jude, do you realize that we have never been on a real date?”

 

“With all the drama we’ve been through, don’t you think we’re a little past first date behavior?”

 

“No way!  Until you’ve actually _been_ on a first date, you can’t be past first date behavior.”

 

“Alrighty, then, I’m game,” Jude responds.  “What do you have in mind?”

 

“Well, the lovely Las Vegas legend, Lois O’Neill, left me her table at the Medici, the best table in town.  I’ve just never had an occasion to use it before now.”

 

“And what would said occasion be?”

 

“You are,” he answers simply.

 

Jude can’t help but roll her eyes at the sappy comment.  “So, when are you planning on taking me on this date?”

 

“Tomorrow night.  I’ll pick you up at eight,” Greg responds as he cleans up his coffee things.

 

“Are you leaving?” Jude asks, surprised.

 

“Yep.  Got a lot to do before tomorrow night.”

 

“Oh,” Jude says, slightly disappointed.  “If I had known you’d run off immediately, I would have turned you down.”

 

“Aw, how sweet, you’re going to miss me.”  Greg taunts her.  “Patience is a virtue, my dear.  I’ll see you tomorrow night.”  Greg kisses her on the cheek and heads out the door.

 

“Why do men have to so aggravating?”  Jude muses aloud to no one in particular.  Jude picks up a strand of her long hair and studies it.  A couple of weeks ago she had dyed it black with a temporary color.  It had faded to a purple-grey rather grotesque shade.  She makes a disgusted face.  “I guess I have a lot to do before tomorrow night, too,” she says, once again to no one in particular.  She picks up the phone and makes an emergency appointment at her favorite salon.

 

***

 

The next evening, at approximately ten minutes before eight, Jude checks her appearance for at least the fifteenth time.  She can’t understand why she is so nervous.  It’s not as if she’s never been on a date before.  She takes a deep breath and studies the mirror.  Her hair, which is back to her natural red-orange shade, is up in a bun on the top of her head, with long curled tendrils framing her face and neck.  She is wearing a black silk blouse with spaghetti straps and black pearl buttons.  The silk is painted with an Asian pattern in a blue-green to match her eyes.  She has on a full length black velvet skirt with a side slit that goes all the way up to her mid-thigh.  On her feet are black suede knee-high boots, with a zipper on the front and a cris-cross peek-a-boo pattern on the back, which offers a glimpse of her shapely calves.  Before she can touch up her already perfect make-up, the doorbell rings.  Taking another breath, still unsure why she can’t seem to get a handle on her nerves, Jude descends the stairs and answers the door.  Her breath catches in her throat, and “Wow” is all she can say to the handsome man standing on her porch. 

 

Greg is wearing a charcoal grey suit and matching fedora.  His black silk dress shirt is untucked.  On him, it doesn’t look sloppy, more like purposefully unkempt.  “You look pretty wow yourself,” he responds, as his eyes take her in.

 

Unable to control herself, Jude grabs Greg by the lapels of his jacket and devours his lips with a greedy kiss.  She captures his tongue with hers.  They kiss for several minutes before Greg reluctantly pulls away. 

 

“We’re going to be late for our reservations,” he says.

 

“Yeah, right, reservations,” Jude responds. 

 

She wipes the lipstick from around Greg’s lips before they walk out to the cars.  Greg walks around the passenger’s side of his car and opens the door.  “Your chariot awaits,” he announces gallantly.

 

Jude had started to open her own car door.  “Oh, I thought I would drive.  You know, since I don’t drink and all.”

 

Greg gives her a look that seems to say, “Oh, come on.”  What he actually says is “You know, it’s tradition for the man to drive on the first date.”

 

Jude rolls her eyes at him and gets in the car.  When Greg closes her car door, Jude pulls down the vanity mirror, retrieves her lipstick from her cleavage, and touches up her lips.  Greg slides in to the driver’s seat.  “You can’t mess with tradition, you know,” he says in response as Jude gives him one of her “For the love of God” looks.  They pull out of the driveway and head towards the restaurant.  As they drive along the strip, Greg takes her hand in his.

 

They arrive at the restaurant, and the valet takes the car.  When they walk into the building, Greg opens the door for Jude, and she looks at him like he had sprouted a second head.  Greg talks to the maitre’d briefly, and as they are being shown to the table, he whispers to Jude, “You have a little issue with chivalry, don’t you?”

 

They approach the table, and Jude can’t help but notice how perfect it is.  It is in the middle of the restaurant, a round table with a circular booth surrounding it.  It is open on one side.  It is dressed in a linen tablecloth and had a small lamp in the center to offset the dimness of the dining room.

 

As soon as they are seated, they are greeted by a waiter carrying a Chateau L’tour, 1961.  “The best wine from our cellar, sir, on the house.  A contingency of Ms. O’ Neill’s will.”

 

“Thank you, but that won’t be necessary,” Greg responds.  The waiter gives him a puzzled look.  “The lady doesn’t drink,” he explains.

 

“Very good, sir,” the waiter responds, and then adds, “What beverage would the lady like?”

 

“Pellegrino, on the rocks, with a twist,” Jude quickly responds before Greg can order for her.

 

“And for you, sir?” the waiter then asks Greg.

 

“I’ll have the same,” he answers.  When the waiter walks away to get their drinks, Greg turns to Jude and asks, “What did I just order?”

 

“Sparkling mineral water with a twist of lemon or lime.  Given the quality of this place, most likely lime.”

 

“So, I just ordered mineral water?  Well, I can’t say you’re not opening me up to new experiences, Jude Harrison.”

 

“Just wait until later,” Jude responds coyly.

 

“Oh, my.” Is all he can say.

 

After studying their menus for several minutes, Greg suddenly speaks up.  “Lois O’Neill was right.”

 

“Right about what?”

 

“Two years ago, right before she died, she signed a copy of her book for me.  It said, ‘The best is yet to come!’  And she was right,” he says, smiling at her.

 

“As much as I admire your optimism, how can you still think that?  I mean, because of me, you’re now on the radar of some freaky psycho killer who we can’t even find.”

 

“All of that may be true, but that’s tomorrow’s problem.  Look around you.  We’re here at a great restaurant, at the best table in town,” he says as he takes her hand.  “Now, let’s forget about all of the psycho killers out there and just have a good time, deal?”

 

“Deal,” she replies, letting a smile play on her face.

 

“Great!  So what are we ordering?” Greg asks.

 

“Oh, no, mister, I order for myself.”

 

“Yes, ma’am, whatever you say.”

 

The waiter comes by to take their orders.  Jude orders first.  “I’ll have the 20oz T-bone, rare; the baked potato, fully loaded; and steamed veggies.”

 

Then Greg orders, “I’ll have the Chilean sea bass, rice pilaf, and steamed vegetables.”

 

The waiter heads to the kitchen with their orders, trying not to laugh.

 

“You order a steak, rare, and I order fish.  No wonder the waiter is laughing at us.”

 

“Is he, really?”

 

“Yeah, look at him.”  Greg points in the direction of the kitchen, and sure enough, the waiter is laughing.

 

“Well, you knew I was a tough chick when you met me, so deal with the consequences!” Jude says, laughing.

 

“Oh, I’m more than happy to deal with the consequences,” Greg responds, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and nuzzling her hair.

 

“If you mess up my ‘do, I will have to shoot you,” Jude says, mostly joking.

 

Greg straightens up immediately, but doesn’t remove his arm from around her shoulders.  The waiter brings the food and sets their plates down in front of them, unsuccessfully stifling his laughter.

 

“Well, those are the kinds of things that one can expect when your date can out eat you and kick your ass,” Greg says amusedly.

 

Jude smiles at him.  “I love how you are confident enough with yourself that those facts amuse you.”

 

“Oh, it more than amuses me,” Greg says with a twinkle in his eye.

 

“Oh, really?” Jude responds, with a similar gleam in her eye.

 

They continue to flirt and make innuendo as they finish their dinner.  When the time comes, they refuse dessert and immediately pay the check, leave, and head back to Jude’s townhouse.

 

Greg pulls into the driveway after their date and walks Jude to the door.  They are standing on the porch; about to engage in the typical post-date small talk.  They are looking at each other, but before he can say anything, Jude says, “Oh, screw it,” and pulls him to her and kisses him deeply.  Greg wraps his arms around her and pulls her against him.  They continue kissing, and Greg slides his hand under Jude’s blouse lightly caressing her back.  Jude starts to nibble on his ear and trail kisses down his neck when the porch light suddenly comes on.

 

Startled, they pull apart.  “Isn’t Annie still in LA?” Greg asks.

 

“Yes, she is,” Jude replies.

 

“So who turned the light on?”

 

“I have no idea.  Now get back!”  She orders him and she pushes him back out of harms way.  She reaches under her skirt and pulls her gun from her thigh holster.  She holds it ready and opens the door.

 

“Jesus, Sis, don’t shoot!”

 

“Paul, what the fuck are you doing in my house and how the fuck did you even get in?”

 

“Geez, detective, chill with the interrogation already.  My band got a gig in the city and mom thought it would be cool if I crashed here, so she gave me a key.”

 

At that moment, three other people come out of the kitchen, eating Jude’s food and drinking her coffee.

 

“Look, Paul, you can stay here because mom will never let me hear the end of it, but the rest of your merry men have to stay elsewhere,” Jude says, then adds, “Wait, there’s one missing, where’s...”  Her sentence is cut short when a forth person comes from the direction of the bathroom.  A tall, handsome man with dark hair and soulful brown eyes joins the crowd in the living room. 

 

“Jude!” he exclaims and rushes to embrace her in a tight hug before capturing her lips in a deep kiss. 

 

Greg clears his throat loudly, drawing Jude’s attention back to him.  She pushes the other man aside, slapping him on the cheek.  “In case you forgot, Sean, we broke up, like, four years ago.”  She moves over towards Greg and slides her arm around his waist.  She looks up at him.  “Sorry, this date didn’t turn out the way I had intended.”

 

“Wait, you’re dating him?” Sean asks.  “But the only reason we broke up was because you were about to go undercover.”

 

“Oh, please, don’t tell me you’ve been pining over me for four years.  Besides, the reason we broke up is because you got drunk at my going away party and slept with my ex-best friend!”

 

“Oh, I _definitely_ haven’t been pining.  And the only reason I slept with Becca in the first place is because you turned me down when I proposed...for the third time!”

 

“I was getting ready to start a deep cover mission!”

 

By this time, Jude and Sean were in each other’s faces, and not wanting his little sister to break his lead singer’s nose, Paul steps in between them, placing a hand over each of their faces.  “Ladies, ladies, this is getting out of hand.  Now, clearly, you have both moved on, so drop it already.”

 

“Fine,” they each mumble from behind Paul’s hands.

 

“Good.  Now, Sean, you go in the other room with the rest of the guys, and Jude, say goodnight to your very cute date, and we can spend some quality brother-sister time.”

 

Sean and the rest of Paul’s band go into the kitchen, while Jude walks Greg out to his car.  “Sorry about that,” Jude apologizes once they’re outside.  “Maybe one of these days we can spend an evening together when my sordid past _won’t_ come back and bite us in the ass.”

 

“Did your brother call me cute?”

 

“Wow, I get into a shouting match with my ex-boyfriend, and that’s the only question you have for me?  Yeah, he said you are cute.  My brother certainly has fine taste in fellows.”

 

“So, I guess that means you think I’m cute, too.”

 

“Maybe just a little,” she says, and kisses him lightly on the mouth.

 

Greg pulls away, “Wait, I’m not going to catch anything from your ex, am I?”

 

“Oh, God, I hope not.  I’m sorry, I totally forgot.”

 

“Well, I guess it’s a good thing that you forget about your ex-boyfriend kissing you.”

 

“Yeah, I’m sorry about that.  If I would have had any clue they were coming to town, I would have made sure they stayed elsewhere.”

 

“Do you still have feelings for him?”

 

“No, no way.”

 

“OK, then, I don’t have a problem with him hanging around.”

 

“Well, that’s good to know, but I kind of have a problem with him, and the rest of the Rockettes staying in my house.”

 

“That’s between you and your brother.”

 

“Yeah, unfortunately, it is.”

 

Just then, the porch light flickers on and off.

 

“Well, it looks like your big brother is telling you that it’s past your curfew.”

 

Rolling her eyes, Jude says, “Yep, and if I don’t go in soon, he’ll only get more obnoxious.”

 

“Well, I guess you’d better get in then.  I’ll see you at work tomorrow.”

 

“Yeah, I’ll see you there.”

 

Greg gives Jude a kiss on the cheek, climbs in his car, and drives away.  Jude reluctantly goes back inside to face the inquisition.  Jude walks into the house, and before her brother can say anything, she speaks.  “Listen, I am going up to my room, I am going to take a shower, and I am going to go to bed.  If anyone comes near me, I will shoot them.  If my house is wreck when I get up tomorrow, I will shoot you all.  Good night.”  Jude heads up the stairs without looking back.

 

 

***

Around noon the next day, Jude is awakened by a familiar voice singing to her.  “Hey Jude, don’t take it bad.  Take a sad song and make it better.  Remember, to let me into your heart and you can start to make it better...”

 

Jude reaches into the drawer of her night stand and pulls out a Chinese throwing star.  It narrowly misses Sean’s head and embeds in the wall next to him.

 

“Hey, watch it!” he exclaims.

 

“If I had wanted to, I could have hit you with it.”

 

“You know, you used to love it when I sang to you.”

 

“Yeah, when we were dating.  In case you haven’t noticed, I’m dating someone else now.  What about you?  Somehow, I find it highly unlikely you’ve been pining away for four years.”

 

“No, no I haven’t.  I have two, no make that three lovely ladies waiting for me back in LA.”

 

“Then why are your harassing me?”

 

“I dunno,” Sean shrugs.

 

“Oh wait, I know,” Jude says, “I’m the one that got away.  I’m probably the only girl who has ever said ‘no’ or disagreed with you about anything.”

 

“That’s true, you always did infuriate me.”

 

“OK, good, now that that’s settled, get over it, move on, and get out of my room.  I’m on graveyard shift tonight and would really like to go back to sleep now.”

 

“OK, fine, I’m going,” Sean pouts as he leaves the room.

 

Later that evening, Jude gets ready for work.  She pulls on a pair of dark blue hip hugger jeans, a fitted red tee shirt with the Aerosmith logo on it, a tan suit jacket with red pin stripes, and her tan Doc Marten boots.  She pulls her red hair up into two long pony tails.  She straps on her gun belt and hangs her badge around her neck.  She heads out the door, relieved that Paul and his band have already left for their gig and she won’t have to deal with Sean again.

 

As soon as she arrives at the station, Captain Brass has an assignment for her.  “You need to meet Nick Stokes at Desert Palms.  Collect a statement from the latest victim of the mugger that’s been attacking tourists on the strip.”

 

“A serial mugger?  Don’t you have a _real_ case for me?” Jude asks.

 

“This _is_ a real case.  We have to catch this guy before he kills someone.”

 

“Alright, fine, I’ll go meet Nick at the hospital.”

 

***

 

Meanwhile, back at the Crime Lab, Catherine catches Grissom just as he is about to leave his office.  “Grissom, I need some help on my internet rape case.  There’s been a second attack.  This guy is becoming a serial, and I need help to stop him.”

 

“There isn’t anybody.  I’ve got a domestic disturbance with injuries in Henderson, Warrick has home invasion in Summerlin, and Nick is working on that serial mugging case.  Days and swing are tapped out as well.”

 

“Well, that’s just great.  When does Greg return from leave?”

 

“Right now,” Greg says as he enters Grissom’s office.  “What do you have for me, boss?”

 

“You’re with Catherine on her serial internet rapist case.  She’ll fill you in.  I’ve got to go.”

 

Greg and Catherine are walking to the AV lab as she fills him in on the case.  “So, what, exactly is a serial internet rapist?” he asks.

 

“Two women who work for LadyHeather.com have been attacked and raped in the middle of a session.  The clients thought it was part of the show.  As soon as Lady Heather found out, she called us.”

 

“I thought Lady Heather closed her business last year.”

 

“She reopened it about six months ago.  My belief is that she wanted to go back to doing what she loves.”

 

“Tying up and whipping men,” Greg says with a grin.

 

Laughing, Catherine responds, “You would really like her.”

 

“Does Grissom know that the victims work for Lady Heather?”

 

Catherine gives him an “Are you kidding me?” look.  “Don’t you think if Grissom knew, he’d be on this case instead of you?  No, he doesn’t know, and for some reason, Lady Heather wants to keep it that way.”

 

“OK, I can keep a secret.  So, when do I get to meet her?” he asks eagerly.

 

“You don’t.  I’ve already processed the crime scene.  I’ve got to go to the hospital and collect an SAE kit from the victim as well as get her statement.  I need you to go over the video footage with Archie and see if there’s anything you can find out about the attacker.”

 

“What do we know so far?”

 

“Not much.  This guy is good.  He didn’t leave any fingerprints or DNA at either crime scene, and he used a condom with the first victim.  And, he wears a mask.”

 

“So, basically, we have nothing.”

 

“Pretty much.”

 

***

 

At the hospital, another CSI is with another victim when Jude walks in.  “Ms. Montgomery, I’m Detective Harrison, I’m going to be working with Mr. Stokes on your case.  Can you tell me what happened?”

 

“I was walking back to my hotel and this guy jumped me from behind.”

 

“What hotel?”

 

“The Four Aces,” Nick answers.  “All three victims were attacked outside of that hotel.”

 

“No wonder Brass is so worried.  That is becoming one of the most popular hotels on the strip,” Jude says before turning back to the victim.  “Is there anything else you can tell me about the attack?”

 

“Yes,” the young woman answers animatedly.  “I took a self defense course a couple of years ago, so when this guy came up behind me, I fought back.  I pulled out a handful of his hair.”

 

“We have plenty of DNA for comparison once we find this guy,” Nick adds.

 

“Ms. Montgomery, did you get a look at your attacker?” Jude asks.

 

“Yes, I did.”

 

“Can you describe him to a police artist?”

 

“Absolutely.”

 

Jude’s eyes light up.  She loves it when a witness is so willing and able to cooperate.  “Would you feel up to it tonight?”

 

“Sure, I’d be glad to.  I want to see you guys put this jerk behind bars.”

 

“Excellent, I’ll make the call and have someone come right in.”  Jude goes into the waiting room to make the call while Nick finishes collecting evidence from the victim.  He couldn’t help but be amused by both women’s enthusiasm for putting the bad guys behind bars.  Jude comes back into the room.  “The sketch artist will be here in about 45 minutes.”  She then turns to Nick.  “Were any witnesses interviewed?  Did anyone see the attack?”

 

“I talked to a few passers-by who didn’t see anything.  I don’t think anyone talked to the night manager at the hotel.”

 

“Alright, I’m going to go have a chat with him, then.  Call me as soon as you have the sketch.”

 

“Yes, ma’am!” Nick responds.

 

***

 

In the AV lab, Greg and Archie are reviewing the video of the attacks.  “This guy has some balls attacking these girls,” Archie says as the first video starts.  “These women scare me.”

 

“Really?” Greg responds as a young, pretty black girl comes on the screen. 

 

She’s dressed in a black leather bustier and a matching biker’s cap.  She glowers at the camera and cracks her whip.  “You’re late!” she barks at the person on the other end.  The feed only shows the session from the woman’s camera, so her client’s response is not heard.  Greg stares transfixed at the screen for several minutes as the session continues.  As the dominatrix reaches her most commanding, a man comes out of the closet and attacks her.

 

“Whoa!  He was in the room the entire time?”  Greg exclaims.

 

“It would appear that way,” Archie replies.  “The guy comes out of the closet in the second attack as well.”

 

The next video features a pretty blonde with bright blue eyes and an athletic build.  She is dressed in a red leather corset and black leather pants.  Her prop of choice is a riding crop.  Her session begins, and immediately it’s apparent that this woman is even more dominant than the first.  “Wow, she is unbelievably hot,” Greg comments before he can stop himself.

 

Archie looks at him and responds, “You are one sick twist, my friend.”

 

Once again, at what would appear to be the climax of the scene, the attacker comes out of the closet.  “Don’t they check the closets first before they begin?” Greg asks.

 

“You’d have to ask Catherine that.  I just analyze the video, not the people in it.”

 

Greg’s cell phone rings suddenly.  “Speak of the devil,” he says as he looks at the caller ID.  “Hey, Cath, what’s up?”

 

“Lady Heather just got a video message from the attacker.  He claims there is some evidence in the dumpster behind the Gas N Go on Freemont St.  Brass sent a couple of uniforms over to secure the scene.  I need you to get over there and see if you can find anything.  Tell Archie I’m sending him the video.  I need him to process it and see if he can get anything more on our attacker from it.  I also need him to see if he can trace where it originated.”

 

“Great, dumpster diving.  My favorite part of being a CSI,” Greg comments dryly.  “Oh, Catherine,” he adds before she can hang up, “Did either of the girls check the closet before beginning their sessions?”

 

“I’m not sure.  I’ll ask them, though.  Be sure you let me know if you find anything.”

 

“Sure thing, boss,” Greg says as he hangs up the phone.

 

“What’s up?” Archie asks.

 

“Apparently, our attacker sent Lady Heather a video claiming there is evidence in a dumpster on Freemont Street.  I get to go dumpster diving, while you, my friend, get to stay in this nice, safe AV lab and process the video.  Catherine wants you to see if you can find out anything else about our guy from the video.  And she wants you to trace it.”

 

“I’m all over it.  Have fun on your field trip.”

 

“Yeah, right.”

 

***

 

At the Four Aces Hotel, Jude is questioning the hotel manager when her cell phone rings.  “This is Detective Harrison,” she says into the phone.

 

“Jude, it’s Nick.  I’ve got the sketch and I’m on my way to the hotel to show it around.”

 

“Great, I’ll see you when you get here.”

 

Ten minutes later, Nick arrives with the artist’s rendering of the suspect.  Jude takes the picture from Nick and shows it to the manager.  “Does this man look familiar to you?”

 

“Yeah, that’s Alan Whitmore.  He used to be a valet here.”

 

“Do you have an address for Mr. Whitmore?” Jude presses.

 

“Let me check my files.”  A few minutes later, the manager returns with the information.

 

“Thanks.” Nick says.

 

“I’ll hit up a judge and get a warrant for this grease ball,” Jude states.  Several minutes later, Jude hangs up her phone and looks at Nick.  “Let’s roll.  A patrol unit is on its way to the perp’s place with the warrant.  Get in my car, I’m driving.

 

They get into Jude’s unmarked Chevy Impala police car.  She puts the car into gear and puts the pedal to the metal.  “Whoa, Nelly!” Nick exclaims.  “I’d really like to _live_ to get the bad guy!”  Nick continues to gripe nonstop the entire five minutes it takes to get to the apartment building. 

 

The patrol unit arrives not long after, and they proceed to serve the warrant.  Jude bangs on the door.  “Mr. Whitmore, open up!  LVPD, we have a warrant.”  She knocks again.  “Mr. Whitmore, we have a warrant to search the premises.  If you don’t open the door, we will be forced to open it!”

 

 After the second request for entrance, Jude loses her patience.  She kicks the door open, and the uniformed officers follow her in.  They clear the living room, and Nick then follows them in. A banging sound comes from the back of the apartment.  “He’s going out the fire escape!” Nick shouts.

 

Jude runs to the fire escape, slides down, and chases the suspect down the street.  “LVPD, stop!” she shouts.  She starts to catch up with him.  She kicks him in the back and tackles him to the ground.  She shoves her badge in his face.  “See this?  It says ‘LVPD’!  That means you stop running, jackass!”  She handcuffs him, and reads him his rights, insulting him at every opportunity.  Nick and the other police officers finally catch up with them.

 

“Man, get this crazy chick off of me!” Alan Whitmore pleads.

 

Nick pulls Jude off of him.  “We’ve got this scumbag dead to rights,” Nick says.  “I found the purses belonging to the three victims under his bed.”

 

“Great, get him down to PD,” Jude says to the patrol officers.  Before they get him into the squad car, Jude punches him in the nose.  “That’s for calling me a ‘chick’!” she says.  Nick grabs her wrist before she can lunge at him again.

 

“You broke my nose!” the suspect complains.

 

“Shut up and get in the car,” Nick says as the officers put him in the car.  Nick faces Jude.  “What the hell are you doing?  You know better than to hit a suspect once they’re in custody!  You could have jeopardized our entire case!  That’s just not smart.  And that’s not you.  You’re usually a smart cop.”

 

“Are you finished with the lecture, mom?” Jude asks.  “Look, just swab my fist.  When we match his blood to the DNA from the hair our victim pulled out, we’ll have him.”

 

Nick swabs the blood, but continues his lecture.  “We have him already.  And even if we didn’t, we have more than enough to compel a DNA sample.”

 

Not willing to admit Nick is right; Jude just pouts and sticks her tongue out at him.

 

“Real mature, detective.  Come on, let’s get back to work.”

 

***

 

Catherine meets Greg back at the lab.  “What did you find in the dumpster?” she asks.

 

“A mask like the one the guy was wearing in the video, but this one was brand new.  No DNA, no fingerprints, no evidence of any kind,” he answers.

 

“I knew it!  This guy is playing with us.”

 

“What about you?  Was there anything in the SAE kit?”

 

“Same as before.  Negative for sperm, positive for spermacide.  Archie is still trying to trace where the video ‘tip’ came from.  It’s the end of shift, and there’s not much else we can do tonight.  Why don’t you take a shower and go home.  We can pick this up tomorrow.”

 

Greg looks down at his soiled jumpsuit.  “I guess I do need a shower.  I’ll see you tomorrow.”

 

***

 

Detective Harrison scours the CSI Lab, trying to find Nick and see if the DNA results had come back yet.  There isn’t anyone in the DNA lab, so she stops by the AV lab.  Archie greets her.  “Hey, Detective.  If you’re looking for Greg, I think he’s already left.”

 

“Actually, I was looking for Nick.”

 

“I haven’t seen him anywhere.”

 

“OK, well, thanks, Archie.”  Jude heads over to the trace lab to see if Hodges knows where Nick might be.  He always pretends to know everything.  “Hodges, have you seen Nick anywhere?” she asks the haughty lab rat.

 

“Last time I saw him, he was in the DNA lab, trying to close your case.  I heard you gave the phrase ‘hard-nosed criminal’ a whole new meaning.  You know, there are _much_ better ways to collect DNA.  Since you're sleeping with our lab geek turned field meat I figured you of all people would know that.  Unless, of course you are merely using him for his body; which would make sense.  He's definitely not the brightest bulb in the box.  If you want brains over brawn I’m your man"

 

Clenching her fists at her sides, trying to contain her very short temper, Jude responds, “Hodges, if you _ever_ say anything like that again, I will happily introduce you to Charles, my pet anaconda.”

 

“You are aware that it is illegal to keep poisonous snakes as pets in the state of Nevada, right?”

 

"You want to see hard nosed Hodges?" Jude says as she makes a fist and winds back for the hit when Warrick comes to the rescue.

 

Warrick grabs her fist.  “Whoa, Jude, I’m sure Hodges has it coming, but one nosebleed a day is your limit.”

 

Jude growls at the two men and heads towards the locker rooms, continuing her search for Nick.  When she walks in, she doesn’t find who she is looking for.  What she does find, however, is Greg Sanders, coming out of the showers wearing nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist.  Raking her eyes over the hot, wet, mostly naked man, the only thing she can think of to say is “Nice towel, Sanders.”

 

Startled to see the pretty detective in the locker room, Greg stammers, “WH-what are you doing in here?”

 

“Well, not finding what I’m looking for, for one.  But definitely finding something worth seeing.”

 

“Is that so?” he asks with a pleased smirk on his face.

 

“Oh yeah,” she says, making her way closer to him.

 

Greg takes Jude’s hand and starts to pull her in the direction of the showers.  Before they even move, Nick walks in.  “Hey, Detective, there you are.  I’ve been looking everywhere for you, I just got the DNA results back on our case.”

 

Clearing her throat, attempting to reset her brain to the business at hand, Jude responds, “Great, I’ve got the suspect in custody.”

 

“Awesome.  Let’s get back to PD and lock this guy up for good,” Nick says.  He and Jude head for the door, but before they leave the locker room, Nick looks over his shoulder.  “Hey, Greggo, you may want to put some clothes on, you don’t want to scare the women folk.”  Jude punches Nick in the arm as they leave the room.

 

Having put her case to rest, Jude heads home.  She is walking across the dark deserted parking structure of the Las Vegas Police Department.  She suddenly senses someone behind her.  Not wanting to appear startled, she continues to walk to her car without turning around.  Before she knows it, the person taps her on the shoulder without warning.  She spins around, kicking his legs out from under him.  She straddles him, pinning him to the ground.  She has his wrists pinned to the concrete; she pulls out her hand cuffs and wraps them around a geographically convenient pillar.  She is locking the cuffs into place around his wrists when she finally looks down at her would-be attacker.

 

“Sanders?  What the fuck are you doing?  Are you OK?”

 

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he responds grinning up at her.  “You know, if you wanted to be on top, all you had to do was ask.”

 

“You know, I could have you arrested for assaulting an officer,” she says, keeping him pinned to the ground.

 

“How do you figure?  After all, I’m the one pinned to the ground.”  Greg responds, wriggling until his hips are strategically placed directly under hers.

 

“And you’re complaining?”

 

“Not at all.  I do have one question, though:  Now that you have me here, at your mercy, what are you going to do with me?”

 

Jude looks him over, licking her lips like a hungry animal.  “Oh, there’s just so much I could do.” 

 

Jude removes her jacket and gun belt.  She leans over him and teases his lips with the tip of her tongue.  She gently nibbles on his lower lip.  She pulls away, and he leans up, trying to capture her mouth with his.  She leans back to where he can no longer reach her.  He drops his head back to the ground with a frustrated groan.  A teasing smile plays across Jude’s lips as she contemplates her next move.  She leans over him once again, this time tracing a trail from his earlobe, down his neck, and to his collar bone with her tongue, until she finds the ideal spot.  She bites into his neck, sucking the flesh into her mouth.  Greg lets a moan of pleasure escape as Jude continues to devour his neck with her lips, her teeth, and her tongue.

 

Jude pulls back once again, this time to unbutton his shirt.  She traces the muscles of his chest and stomach with her tongue.  She works her way back up to his nipples, sucking one into her mouth, biting it gently at first, then harder.  He cries out as pleasure and pain rush through his body, the sensations intertwined.  He can feel his jeans start to get tight as his erection grows.  The things she can do with her mouth are driving him mad, and he can’t wait to see what she would do next.  She works her way back up to his neck, biting him more aggressively this time.

 

Greg strains against the handcuffs.  He wants to touch her so badly, he wants to caress her perfect breasts and cup her succulent ass.  Her chest is pressed against his, and he can feel her nipples getting hard underneath her thin tee shirt.  This isn’t the first time he thanked the heavens that Jude rarely wore a bra.

 

Jude is about to remove Greg’s belt when they hear footsteps, followed by raucous laughter.  Jude looks up in time to see Nick Stokes handing Warrick Brown a $20.

 

“Aww, man!”  Nick gripes.

 

“Hey, you two may want to go someplace a little less public,” Warrick advises.

 

“Talk about a mood killer,” Greg says.  “I guess we should get out of here.”

 

“Yeah, probably so.  Where’s a good place to go that we can get to in, like, five minutes?”

 

“My place is three blocks away.  And the way _you_ drive, we’d probably make it there in a nanosecond.”

 

“I don’t drive _that_ fast,” Jude gripes as she unlocks the handcuffs and releases Greg from them.  She gathers up her jacket and gun belt, and they head towards her car. 

 

While they are walking across the parking lot, Greg slips his arm around Jude’s waist and into the front pocket of her jeans.  She feels electricity shoot though her body, having his touch that near to her center.  Jude throws her things in the trunk of the Corvette and they get into the car.  She finds it very difficult to follow directions, work the clutch, and control the stick shift.  Greg didn’t bothered to button his shirt, and all Jude can do is stare at his chest.  All she can think about is how perfect it is.  Not overly muscular, just very well defined, and almost no hair.  It in no way helps her concentration to have Greg lightly stroking the inside of her thigh as they make their way down the street.  After what seems like forever, but was only about 2 or 3 minutes, they arrive at Greg’s apartment complex.

 

They barely make it to the elevator.  Once the doors shut, Greg presses Jude against the wall and kisses her, deeply and passionately.  She wraps a long leg around his waist and presses her hips against his.  Things start to get heated up again when they arrive at the desired floor.  At first, they don’t move to get off the elevator.

 

“This is our floor,” Greg finally manages to say between kisses.

 

“Oh, yeah, we should get off the elevator now,” Jude replies.

 

They enter the apartment, and after taking a quick look around, Jude heads for the coffee table.  She puts her right boot on the table, unlaces it, takes it off, and then removes the ankle holster which holds her back up fire arm.  She removes her sock, revealing, surprisingly, painted pink toenails.  She then repeats the process with her left foot, removing the knife that is strapped there.  Greg is watching her disarm in amazement.

 

“Wow, is it possible?  Is Detective Jude Harrison actually without a weapon?”

 

“I don’t know, Mr. Crime Scene Investigator.  Maybe you should frisk me and find out.”

 

“I think I probably should.  Assume the position.”

 

Jude braces her hands on the coffee table and spreads her feet so that they are shoulder width apart.  She tingles in anticipation.  She can’t wait to feel his perfect hands roaming her body.  He gets behind her and starts by running his hands up the outside of her legs and up her torso.  He runs his hands down the inside of her thighs.  He can feel the heat of her desire through her jeans.  He slides his hands over her breasts, down her back, and cups her bottom.  He finds her handcuffs in her back pocket and takes them out, dangling them teasingly over her head.

 

“I think it’s your turn to wear the metal,” Greg says with a gleam in his eye.

 

“I don’t think so, Sanders!”  Without her boots on, he stands a good five or six inches over her, so Jude climbs on the coffee table and quickly snags the cuffs from him.  She jumps off the table and heads towards the bed room.  Greg stares after her, shocked over how quickly she moved.  She looks over her shoulder at him.  “Dude, are you coming or what?”

 

Greg follows Jude into the bedroom.  Once there, she pushes him down into a sitting position on the bed and removes his shirt.  They begin to kiss again, and Greg pulls Jude’s tee shirt over her head, revealing her perfectly round, full breasts.  He trails kisses down her neck to her chest.  He takes on of her breasts into his mouth, teasing her nipple with his tongue.  He moves his lips back up her neck before capturing her mouth in another deep kiss.  He wraps his arms around her and pulls her into the bed with him.

 

They roll around in the sheets, and Jude manages to handcuff Greg to the headboard of the bed.  He looks up and her, surprised.  She smirks at him.  “You know you like it,” she whispers seductively.  She works her way down his chest with her tongue until she reaches the waist band of his jeans.  She unfastens the snap and then works the zipper with her teeth.    She makes quick work of removing his shoes and socks.  She takes her time with his jeans, slowly pulling them down his hips and legs.  She begins to remove his boxer briefs when she stops just as she pulls them off his hips.  Unable to help herself, she bites into his hip, sucking the flesh into her mouth and working it with her tongue.  She finally stops and continues to remove his briefs.  At the foot of the bed, she pauses, looking him over.

 

“Do you know you have really adorable feet?” Jude asks.  She emphasizes her observation by licking around his ankle bone.  She then makes her way up his legs with her tongue.  She works her way up the inside of his thigh until she reaches his hips.  She begins to tease the sensitive area on the inside of his thigh where it meets his hips.  She starts by licking the area.  Then she kisses the area.  She nibbles gently.  After lulling him into a false sense of security with the sweet, gentle pressure she’s applying, she removes her lips from his skin.  After a taking a breath, she bites down.  Greg cries out, the sensations of pain and pleasure once again mingling sublimely.

 

She stops what she is doing long enough to remove her jeans, revealing her red lace thong.  Greg just stares at her.  He strains against his restraints.  He admires her lithe dancer’s build and thinks about what a perfect body she has, and what he would like to do with her body once he was free of his restraints.

 

Jude sees him straining against the handcuffs.  She once again climbs on top of him, straddling him.  She pushes his shoulders against the mattress.  “If you don’t stop that, you’re going to injure yourself,” she taunts him.  “I’m not finished with you yet,” she says coyly.

 

“I can’t wait to see what you do next.”  He replies.

 

She smiles wickedly at him, making her way to his hips once again.  There, she claims her prize.  She takes his shaft in her hands and slowly strokes it.  She then begins to tease the very tip of it with her tongue before taking it completely into her mouth.  She applies the perfect amount of pressure with her teeth and lips.  She uses her tongue superbly, her tongue ring adding an extra sensation to the process.  She suckles him fervently, using her teeth to apply just the right amount of pain in just the right spots.  She can feel his excitement growing.  Just as he is ready to explode, she stops.

 

Jude gets out of the bed long enough to remove her panties, then climbs on top of Greg once again straddling him.  She lowers herself onto him, taking him inside of her.  She fits him like a glove.  She has never had anyone fill her more completely.  She starts to ride him, slowly at first, then harder and faster.  She clutches her breasts as she rides him, pinching her nipples to heighten her pleasure.  She begins to clench around him, she feels his passion rising.  They climax at the same time.  She slows her rhythm, milking him until he softens inside her.  She finally slides off of him and lies down next to him.

 

“Jude, uncuff me,” Greg whispers softly.  She takes the handcuffs off of him.  He wraps his arms around her and kisses her passionately.  They lay in each others arms, feeling safe, fulfilled, and content.

 

Greg looks down at Jude, who is resting her head against his chest.  Her eyes are closed, but she isn’t asleep.  “Jude, open your eyes,” he says to her.

 

She opens her blue green eyes and stares into his deep brown ones.  “What?” she asks sleepily.

 

He looks into her eyes and gently brushes her hair out of her face.  He sees something change in her eyes.  The wall she puts up to keep feelings out has come down.  He knows a chance like this may not come again, and he has to tell her how he feels.  “I love you.”  He whispers.

 

Jude rolls over, turning her back to him.  “Me too,” she says softly, and then pretends to sleep.

 

***

 

The next evening, Catherine finds Grissom in his office doing something quite unusual—paperwork.  “Hey, have you seen Greg?  He’s 45 minutes late for shift and I’ve gotten a lead on our serial rape case.”

 

“Catherine, why didn’t you tell me your victims work for Lady Heather?”

 

“You choose now of all times to do your case reviews?  You never do case reviews, or any other paperwork for that matter.”

 

“It is part of my job.”

 

“Yeah, that part that you usually delegate to me.”

 

“What can I say?  It’s a slow crime day in Vegas and I’m bored.  Now, could you please answer my question?”

 

“Lady Heather specifically asked that you not be involved.”

 

“I wonder why?”

 

Before they can ponder the subject further, Greg comes rushing in, clearly out of breath.  Greg is talking animatedly with his hands, trying to explain why he is so late, when Grissom notices something under the cuffs of his grey turtleneck.

 

“Are those ligature marks on your wrists, Greg?” Grissom asks.

 

“What happened, did you get a job working for Lady Heather that we need to know about?” Catherine pipes in.

 

“Not quite, although if I don’t get a promotion soon, I may have to look into it.  I hear she pays really well.”

 

“So, what happened?  Does it have anything to with why you are 45 minutes late for shift?” Grissom asks.

 

“You want to know the best thing about dating a cop?  She likes to use handcuffs.  You want to know the worst thing about dating a cop?”

 

“She likes to use handcuffs?” Catherine finishes for him.

 

“I really don’t think I need to know why you were late.” Grissom says.

 

“What happened?  Did she lose the key?” Catherine asks.

 

“Yeah, dropped it down the heater vent.”

 

“Been there, done that,” she responds.

 

Grissom and Greg exchange a “look” over Catherine’s head when her phone suddenly rings.  She speaks briefly to the person on the other end, and then says to Greg, “Speaking of Lady Heather, there’s been another attack.  That was Brass.  He’s securing the scene and the victim is on her way to the hospital.  She’s ‘death imminent’.”

 

“He’s escalating,” Greg observes.

 

“Let’s go,” Grissom says.  Catherine looks at him puzzled.  “I don’t care what she wants.  This crime is escalating and we need everyone available on it.”

 

“OK,” Catherine responds as they head out the door.

 

***

 

Jude arrives at the police station, also 45 minutes late for her shift.  The first person she sees upon arrival is Detective Sophia Curtis.  Sophia takes one look at Jude’s unusual wardrobe and states, “Looks like somebody didn’t make it home last night.”

 

Jude is wearing one of Greg’s dress shirts, which fits her like a dress.  She topped that with one of his tan sweater vests that would match her boots.  Over that, she had usurped his favorite grey blazer jacket.  “Yeah, well with my brother and his crew of circus freaks invading my home, I’m sure this won’t be the last time,” she replies.

 

“I guess Sanders will be sending your brother a fruit basket then, to thank him.”

 

“Ha ha, funny.  Where’s Captain Brass?”

 

“He’s in his office, and he wants to see you.”

 

“Great, what did I do now?”

 

Sophia shrugs and heads out to her assignment. 

 

Jude arrives at Brass’ office.  “Take a seat,” he says, indicating the chair on the other side of his desk.  “Yesterday you punched a suspect in the nose after he was already in custody.  Care to explain why you would do something that could have jeopardized the case?”

 

“He called me a chick,” Jude answered simply, as if that were reason enough.

 

“You know, you’re lucky we had an air tight case against that guy.  The Under Sheriff wants me to suspend you.  He thinks you’re a loose cannon.”

 

“Go ahead, suspend me.  I’d do it again.  The dude had it coming.”

 

“See, Jude, it’s things like that which make people think you’re a hot head.  I know you’re a good cop, and you could have a big future in this department.  You just have a slight impulse control problem.”

 

Before he can finish the lecture, Brass gets the call about the newest attack at Lady Heather’s.  “OK, here’s the deal, I have to suspend you per the Under Sheriff, so you’re suspended for tonight.  Come see me at start of shift tomorrow.  I’ve got to go.”  Brass head’s out to Lady Heather’s, leaving a slightly confused and amused Jude sitting in his office.

 

Jude is slightly distraught as she drives back to her townhouse in Seven Hills.  In the last 24 hours, she’d hit a suspect, had someone tell her he loves her, and been suspended from her job.  Her head is spinning when she pulls into her driveway, and is unbelievably relieved to see that her brother’s van is not there.  She walks into her house to find, to her chagrin, Sean Maxwell sitting on her living room sofa eating a pint of ice cream.

 

“You didn’t come home last night,” he says, half jokingly, have accusingly.

 

“That better not be my Turtle Nut Fudge Ben & Jerry’s, dude,” Jude says as she starts to head up to her room.

 

“Jude is something wrong?” he asks before she can make it safely up the stairs.

 

“Nothing, I’m fine.  Why?”

 

“You didn’t threaten to shoot me, or kick my ass, or cause any other sort of bodily harm.  That usually means something is wrong.  Come on, sit down and talk to me.  I promise not to bite...unless you ask.”

 

Jude couldn’t help but smile at her ex-boyfriend’s attempts to cheer her up.  “Where are the rest of the Mousecateers?” she asks as she takes a seat next to him.

 

“Since we have the night off, they decided to go clubbing.”

 

“And you didn’t go?”

 

“Nah, I just wanted to have a relaxing evening at home.”

 

“You mean at my home.”

 

“Yeah, whatever.  Now, are you going to tell me what’s wrong and why you aren’t at work?”

 

“I got suspended because I hit a suspect.  He had it coming, thought.  He called me a ‘chick’.”

 

“Well, that explains why you seem aggravated.  But what else is going on?”

 

“Nothing.  That’s all.”

 

Sean crosses his arms and stares at her.  “Jude, we were together for four years.  I can tell there is something else going on.  You’re not just aggravated, you’re freaked out.  What happened?”

 

“Trust me, Sean; you _really_ don’t want to hear about this.  I’m going to bed.”

 

“Wait,” Sean says, grabbing her wrist and pulling her back onto the couch.  “We may not be dating anymore, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t still friends.  Does this have anything to do with that guy you’re seeing?”

 

“His name is Greg.  And yes, it does.”

 

“What happened?  Did you punch him, too?”

 

“No, I’d never do that.  Well, probably never.  He told me he loves me.”

 

“Whoa,” Sean said, remembering how she had reacted when he told her that.  “How did that go?  What did you do?”

 

“I pretended to be asleep.  A few hours later I woke him up and screwed his brains out.”

 

“Well, I think you handled that slightly better than when we were dating.”

 

“You think?”

 

They couldn’t help but laugh at the memory of a 19 year old Jude running straight to Paul, saying “You need to tell Sean he _can’t_ be in love with me!”

 

“Yeah, well, I was young and dumb then,” Jude rationalized.  “I’m a lot smarter now.”

 

Sean looks at her, all humor gone from his expression.  “Seriously, Jude, how do you feel about him?  If you don’t feel the same way, it’s not fair to string him along.”

 

“Wow, spoken like a true jilted boyfriend.”

 

“Sorry, I guess that was uncalled for.”

 

“No, I actually think you have a point.  I never was very fair to you, was I?”

 

“Hey, I guess it just wasn’t meant to be.  But, in all seriousness, you do have to figure out how you feel about this new guy before one of you gets hurt.”

 

Jude starts to say something, stops, starts again, but can’t quite form a coherent thought.  Sean recognizes the look of panic on her face.  He’d seen it before.  “You’re in love with him, too,” he observes.

 

“I am not!  If I was in love with him, would I do this?”  Jude grabs Sean by his shirt and pulls him into a kiss.

 

Sean pushes her off of him.  “Stop it, Jude.  You can hide from your feelings all you want, but don’t use me to do it!”

 

Jude throws up her hands in frustration.  “Fine!  I’m going to bed.”  Jude sulks up the stairs, leaving Sean alone with his ice cream.

 

***

 

The Denali pulls up in front of a large gothic mansion.  The three CSIs exit the vehicle and approach the door.  Brass is already waiting for them, and he lets them in.  They enter the foyer, and Greg looks around, obviously impressed. 

 

"Wow, I bet Jude would love to check out this place.  I wonder if Lady Heather gives couple discounts." 

 

"Where is Jude, anyway?" Catherine asks.  "I sent her a message to meet us here." 

 

Brass glances at his watch.  "She's probably in Seven Hills by now.  I sent her home for the night to cool down before the Under Sheriff has me suspend her for good," Brass responds.  "Why did you message her anyway?" 

 

Catherine glances at Greg and says "I think she may have some hidden talents that might help us find the closet monster."

 

The mistress of the house descends the spiral staircase.  She is an elegant woman, with flowing dark hair and piercing green eyes.  She is dressed all in black.  She is wearing a form fitting bustier and a flowing silk skirt.  She has on knee high boots with a six inch stiletto heel.  At 5’7”, those heels helped her tower over the men who paid her to dominate them.  Grissom and Greg watch Lady Heather, both transfixed by her powerful beauty.  She greets the quartet standing in her foyer.  “Captain Brass, Catherine, Grissom,” she says the last name with very well hidden dismay, before turning her gaze to Greg.  “And who is this?” she asks Catherine.

 

“Greg Sanders.  He’s working with me on your case.”

 

It doesn’t take long for Lady Heather to size the young man up.  She extends her hand and he takes it.  “I can see you are one of the few men in law enforcement _not_ in need of my services.”

 

Greg turns to Catherine, slightly confused.  “Take that as a compliment,” she whispers to him.

 

“Oh, of course I meant it as a compliment,” Heather replies.  “You see, most men in law enforcement are so all consumed with taming our big, bad city that they can’t let go and give in to their more primal urges.”  She looks pointedly at Brass as she says this.

 

“Oh yeah, what about women in law enforcement?” he asks.

 

“Women in law enforcement typically tend to repress their feminine and emotional sides.  While these women have already dropped the shackles of traditional male/female roles, they sometimes tend to lose themselves.”

 

“Yeah, you should meet his girlfriend,” Catherine comments.

 

“Lady Heather,” Grissom interrupts, “We really need to see the crime scene.”

 

“Yes, of course.  Do you have any leads yet?”

 

“Catherine, didn’t you say you had something?” Grissom asks.

 

“Yeah, Archie finally traced our video ‘clue’.”

 

“Great, give Greg the address.  Meet him there after you finish at the hospital with the victim.”

 

“Yes, sir,” Catherine replies dryly.

 

Catherine and Greg leave Lady Heather’s, per Grissom’s orders, and she shows Grissom and Brass to the crime scene.  “The attacker keeps coming out of the closet,” Heather explains to Grissom.  “After the first attack, everyone was under strict orders to check there before every session.”

 

“Is there any way someone could get into the closet without anybody seeing them?”

 

“Each closet used to have a dumb waiter.  But those haven’t worked in years.”

 

“This could be an inside job,” Grissom observes.

 

“I’m quite certain it is;” Heather replies, “Only I can’t figure out who would do such a thing.”

 

“I’m going to do my best to find out,” Grissom tries to reassure her.

 

“Great, while you’re doing that, I’ll be in my office.”

 

Grissom processes the room and finds the same thing Catherine found in the other rooms:  nothing.  Grissom joins Heather and Brass in her office.  “I didn’t find anything,” he says apologetically.  “I hope Greg has better luck with the video clue, though somehow I doubt he’ll find anything.  We need to catch this guy in the act.”

 

“No way.  I’m not putting any of my girls at risk.”

 

“If he had a type, we could put a detective undercover,” Brass offers, “but he seems to like all types.”

 

“He does have a type, though,” Lady Heather explains.  “He attacked my strongest dominatrixes.  This last one, Julie, was my protégé.”

 

“Well, unfortunately, I can’t profile my detectives for ‘dominatrix’, I might get sued for sexual harassment,” Brass says.

 

Heather addresses Grissom for the first time since he entered the room.  “Your young associate, Greg, didn’t Catherine say his girlfriend is in law enforcement?”  Grissom nods.  Heather then asks Brass, “Is she certified to go undercover?”

 

“Yes, she’s one of my detectives.  I don’t think the Under Sheriff would go for it, though.  He really wants me to have Jude take anger management classes before I put her back in the field.”

 

“Let me talk to him,” she suggests.  “Perhaps I can convince him that by working with me, I can help her manage her anger.”

 

“How do you even know she’d be the right type of woman?”  Grissom asks.  “You haven’t even met her.”

 

“I met her boyfriend, and if he’s any indication, she definitely has it in her, and I’m sure I can help bring it out.”

 

“Great, just what LVPD needs, a Jr. Lady Heather,” Brass remarks sardonically.

 

Lady Heather ignores him and makes the call to the Under Sheriff.

 

***

 

Catherine meets Greg at the lab after they attempt to collect evidence.  “Hey, Cat, did you ever think that maybe Grissom could be the rapist?”

 

“No,” she starts, briefly reconsiders, and then amends, “No way!  What makes you think that?”

 

“Well, he and Lady Heather had a thang back in his pre-Sara days.  And now that Sara’s gone, well maybe Grissom’s finally snapped.”

 

“I think _you’ve_ finally snapped,” Catherine responds.

 

“Think about it, this guy knows forensics.  He hasn’t left us anything.  Even that address Archie got off that video feed was a bust.  It was a sterile apartment.  I found a couple of planted hairs, and those traced back to the victims.”

 

“Don’t you think if Grissom did do something like this, he would have done something more creative?”

 

“What? Like make a miniature?”

 

Just as they are discussing how and why Grissom might be involved with this, Catherine’s cell phone rings.  “Speak of the devil,” Catherine answers the phone.

 

“Listen, Catherine, you need to take Greg off this case,” Grissom says.

 

“OK,” she says apprehensively, wondering if Grissom was somehow aware of Greg’s musings.

 

“Brass is going to put Jude undercover at Lady Heather’s,” he explains.

 

“I’ll let him know,” Catherine says as she hangs up the phone.  “Well, Greg, Grissom just told me to take you off the case,” she announces.

 

“What?” he squeaks.  “He didn’t hear what I was saying, did he?”

 

“No.  At least, I don’t think so.  Apparently your girlfriend is going undercover at Lady Heather’s to try and catch this guy.”

 

“Oh,” was all he could say.

 

***

 

Jude was sound asleep when she got the call from Brass.  “I’m asleep,” she answers the phone without ceremony.

 

“Well, wake up and get down to the station ASAP,” her captain says.

 

“Fine,” she mutters and hangs up the phone.

 

Ten minutes later, Jude walked into Brass’ office.  She hadn’t even bothered to change out of her pajamas.  She was wearing a light blue Happy Bunny tank top with the logo “I’m sorry your music sucks”, and matching pajama pants.  Her feet were clad in blue fuzzy slippers.  She had her long hair arranged in Pocahontas style braids.  “What’s the deal?  You send me home, tell me I’m suspended for the night, and then call me back in?  Are you schizo?”

 

“Sit down and shut up,” Brass replies.  “I have an assignment for you.”

 

“Oh, I bet the Under Sheriff is thrilled by that.”

 

“Don’t worry, he approved of this.  You know, you are cranky when you wake up.”

 

Jude sticks her tongue out at him in reply.

 

“You’re going to go undercover at Lady Heather’s to try and draw out the scum bag that keeps attacking her girls.”

 

“Um, OK,” Jude says, slightly confused.

 

“You haven’t heard about the case?”  Brass asks.  “Your boyfriend is one of the CSIs working the case.”

 

“He’s not my boyfriend.  Besides, we try not to talk about work.”

 

“Catherine is on her way over here.  When she gets here, we’ll brief you on the case.”

 

Catherine arrives a few minutes later and takes the other chair in Brass’ office.  “Nice PJs,” she says to Jude.

 

Jude points across the desk at Brass.  “He woke me up,” she says grumpily.

 

Ignoring her bitchiness, Catherine and Brass give Jude an overview of the case.  After filling her in on all the information, Catherine concludes by saying, “We think this is an inside job.  Most likely, the creep who has been doing this is watching Lady Heather and her girls.  He probably has already seen us at the crime scene.”

 

“What are you trying to say, Willows?” Jude asks.

 

“As long as you are working on this case, it would probably be best if you and Greg stopped seeing each other.”

 

“Oh,” Jude says in response.

 

Grissom walks into the office just then.  “Catherine, did you take Greg off this case?”

 

“You can’t take Sanders off the case,” Jude interrupts.  Grissom looks at her quizzically.  “Think about it,” she starts, “if this guy has been watching Lady Heather, and he’s seen you guys at the scene, then he knows which CSIs have been working the case.  He’ll notice if you change the team.”

 

“What about conflict of interest?  A good defense attorney will go to town on a relationship between a CSI and an undercover cop.”

 

“That’s why Catherine is right, and we have to stop seeing each other until this case is closed.”

 

“Alright, but I want Greg only working in the lab on this.  Any other field work is to be handled by Catherine.”

 

“Yes, sir,” Catherine once again says dryly.

 

“Well, I guess you should show me those videos,” Jude suggests.  Brass, Grissom, Catherine, and Jude head over to the crime lab.

 

The two detectives and the two CSIs join Archie in the AV lab.  Archie looks up from the screen and sees Jude and the others.  “Hey, detective, nice PJs.”

 

Having a rare moment where she can’t come up with a smartass retort, Jude smiles weakly at the cute AV tech.  After watching the videos of the attacks, Jude looks over at Captain Brass.  “So you want me to go undercover as a dominatrix?  I’m so pleased you thought of me for this assignment.”

 

“Do you think you can handle it?”

 

“Hell yeah!  When do I start?”

 

“You should be at Lady Heather’s by 7pm tomorrow.  She’ll teach you everything you need to know.”

 

“Excellent!” Jude responds, excitement shining in her blue-green eyes.

 

“This is going to make Greg’s year!” Archie remarks.  Catherine tries really hard to stifle a giggle at Archie’s observation.

 

“Speaking of Sanders,” Jude begins, “is he here?  I probably need to talk to him before I start my mission.”

 

“Last time I saw him, he was in the break room arguing with Hodges,” Archie replied.

 

“Great, thanks,” Jude says, then heads off to the break room to break the bad news.

 

As Jude approaches the break room, she hears a very heated argument between the two men.

 

“Hodges, are you insane, or just blind?  Elektra is _clearly_ the hottest female superhero!”

 

“No way, Sanders!  Wonder Woman is much hotter!”

 

“Wonder Woman?  Could you _be_ any more cliché?”

 

Jude shakes her head in disbelief as she opens the door.  “You both are, sadly, wrong,” Jude states.  “Max Guevara is the hottest female superhero.”

 

Hodges gives her a blank look.  “Who?” he asks.

 

“Dark Angel isn’t exactly a comic book heroine,” Greg responds.

 

“Who cares?” Jude says.  “She’s sexy as hell and she kicks ass.  I wouldn’t kick her out of bed.”

 

“Babe, I hate to disappoint you, but I don’t think Dark Angel swings that way.”  Greg responds.

 

“That is entirely _not_ the point.  And don’t call me ‘babe’.”

 

“Or what?  You’ll hurt me?” Greg asks with a gleam in his eye.

 

“Hello, other people are in the room and we’re going to vomit,” Hodges interjects.

 

“So why don’t you and your imaginary friends _leave_ the room?” Jude responds.

 

“Yeah, you’d better get back to your lab.  Grissom’s ass isn’t going to get kissed all by itself.”  Greg adds.

 

“Fine, I’m leaving.  But for the record, Sanders, I don’t like the influence she is having on you.”  With that, Hodges leaves the room and closes the door with a resounding slam.

 

Jude slides onto the table in a sitting position.  “Now that he’s gone, we need to talk.”

 

“Can we talk about how cute you look in those PJs?”  Greg says as he leans over her and starts kissing her.  She wraps her arms around his neck and kisses him back, before she remembers why she had to talk to him in the first place.  Jude gently pushes him away from her.

 

“Can you stop kissing me for two minutes?  This is important!”

 

“I’ll try, but I’m not making any promises.”  He leans in and tries to kiss her again, but she stops him by putting her hands on his chest.

 

“Stop it, this is serious!” she chides him.

 

Greg backs off, crosses his arms and looks at her.  “Jude, what is going on?  Is everything OK?”

 

“Yeah, everything is fine, except that we have to stop seeing each other.”

 

“What on earth are you talking about?  Is this because I used the ‘L’ word the other day?”

 

“No, doofus.  I’m going undercover at Lady Heather’s.  We’re working on the same case, so in order to maintain the integrity of the investigation; we shouldn’t be seen together until the perp is put behind bars.”

 

“That really sucks.”

 

“Yeah, it does, but if we’re gonna put this bastard behind bars, we’ve got to do whatever it takes.”

 

“Well, we’ll just have to hurry up and catch this guy.”

 

“That’s the idea.  I should probably get home.  I’m meeting Lady Heather tomorrow so I can start preparing for my new roll.”

 

“Good luck.”

 

“Thanks.”  With that, Jude gives Greg a quick peck on the lips and heads out.

 

When Jude returns to her townhouse, she is no longer able to control her emotions.  She slams into the house and barges into her brother’s room.

 

“What the hell Jude?  What if I had a guy in here?”  Paul stops his rant when he looks up and sees his sister.  “What’s the matter, doll?”

 

Jude climbs into bed next to her older brother.  “I hate my job.”

 

“You do not hate your job.  You love it.  What happened?”

 

“The reason I wanted to work in robbery/homicide is so that I wouldn’t have to disrupt my life to go undercover anymore.  Well, not only do I have to go undercover again, it’s for the same case Sanders is working on, so now we have to stop seeing each other.  Sometimes life can just be so lame.”

 

Paul sees the unshed tears glistening in Jude’s eyes.  “I never thought I’d see the day.  You’re in love with him, aren’t you?”

 

“Who?  Me?  No way.  I’m emotionally unavailable.  I don’t fall in love with anybody, remember?”

 

“You might be able to fool the masses, Jude Harmony Harrison, but I know you, and you, my dear little sister, are in love.  And from what I’ve heard, this guy feels the same way about you, so what are you worried about?  I’m sure he’ll wait for you.”

 

“You don’t understand.  I have no idea how long it’s going to take to close this case.  I’m sure a guy like Greg Sanders won’t stay single for long.  He’s sure to find someone more emotionally available and a lot less unstable than me, that’s for sure.”

 

“You worry too much.  If you want, I can talk to him for you.  You know, feel him out and see if he’s the kind of guy who would go out and look for someone else.”

 

“No, don’t do that.”

 

“Too late, I’m going to do it.  Besides, he’s cute and I wouldn’t mind seeing him again.”

 

“I swear to God, Paul, if you steal my boyfriend, I will shoot you!”

 

“Well, I guess you’re feeling better?”

 

“Yeah, a little bit, but do you mind if I sleep in here tonight?”

 

Sure thing, little sis.”

 

“Thanks, bro.”

 

***

 

The next day, Jude heads over to Lady Heather’s to learn everything she needs to draw the attacker to her.  She pulls up to the large Gothic mansion and stares at it in awe for several minutes before getting out of her Corvette and approaching the door.  She knocks on the door with the large brass knocker and waits, feeling something she has rarely ever felt in her life...nervous.  The door is answered by an elegant brunette.

 

“Welcome to Lady Heather’s Dominion.”  As Lady Heather looks the red head over, Jude starts to get a handle on her nerves.  “You must be Detective Harrison.  Come in.  You seem nervous.  Why?”

 

“I honestly have no idea,” Jude says with a chuckle.  “I don’t usually get nervous.”

 

“Well, there really is nothing to worry about.  I’ll teach you everything you need to know.”

 

“It shouldn’t be that difficult for me to pick it up.”

 

“I have no doubt about that.”

 

***

 

After a few weeks of training, Jude was ready for her first clients.  The crime lab had set up a direct internet feed to both the mobile unit where Brass and Catherine could monitor for suspicious activity on location, as well as to the AV lab, where Archie’s more highly trained eyes could pick up something the others might miss.  Jude didn’t know quite what to expect from her internet clientele, but she felt confident she would be able to read them well enough to give them what they expected from her.  Her first client she discovered she was already familiar with.  She had seen him in several of the videos Lady Heather had shown her.  He was a rather attractive young man with dark hair and light eyes.  He was dressed only in shorts and a choke chain.  He was curled up in the bed looking quite like a lost puppy.  Jude snapped her riding crop towards the web cam.  “Bad little boys are not allowed on the bed!”  She barked into the camera.

 

“Yes, Mistress,” he responded meekly, yet still refused to comply.

 

Jude snapped the riding crop at the camera again, this time with more force.  “Did you not hear me?  I said bad little boys are _not_ allowed on the bed!”

 

The scene continued for several more minutes.  The submissive would comply, then, disobey, and the cycle would start over.  Though Jude was highly focused on the task at hand, part of her brain couldn’t help but marvel at the fact that this man was paying $9.99 a minute for this.  Subsequently, she couldn’t help but wonder if she could legally share in some of those profits.

 

Meanwhile, back at the lab, the paying client wasn’t the only one watching Jude in action.  “Wow, Jude is scary good at this,” Archie says to the other lab rats in the AV room.  They had let their curiosity get the better of them, they were dying to see Greg Sanders’ girlfriend having play time with random strangers.

 

“I am _so_ glad I’m not Sanders,” Hodges states, the fascination in his voice betraying his words.

 

“I don’t know, I think it’s kind of hot,” Wendy Simms says before she can stop herself.

 

“You do?” Hodges asks, looking at her with a mixture of awe, fascination, and fear.

 

Mandy Webster chimed in with her two cents.  “I can definitely see the appeal in this.  There are a couple of guys in this building I wouldn’t mind tying down and having my way with.”  Everyone in the room just looks at her, shocked and speechless.

 

At that moment, Grissom walks by and sees his entire lab staff gathered in the AV lab.  “Don’t you people have work to do?” he asks them as he enters the room.

 

“I am working, boss.”  Archie announces.

 

Grissom looks at the video monitor.  “Is that Detective Harrison?” he asks as he puts his glasses on and tries to get a better view of the screen.

 

Greg hears Jude’s voice as he walks by the AV lab.  Not entirely sure if he is hearing things because he misses her, he goes into the lab to investigate.  What he finds is an unsettling sight.  A room full of people is watching Jude humiliate random men.  Some people cringe and turn away at times, while others, including Grissom, can’t seem to take their eyes off of the screen.  Greg walks in and clears his throat, loudly.  Suddenly, everyone seems to have somewhere else to be.  “Grissom, can I see you out here for a minute?” Greg asks his boss, finding a reserve of courage he didn’t know he had.

 

“What is it, Greg?”

 

“What were you doing in there?”

 

“My job,” Grissom announces simply.

 

“I can’t believe you were sitting there just letting them gawk at Jude like that!  Despite outward appearances, she happens to be a very private person.  I would think you of all people would understand that!”

 

After his rant, Greg stands there, waiting for Grissom to fire him at any moment.  But all he can say is, “I’ve never seen this side of you before, Greg.  Hodges is right; Jude is having an interesting influence on you.  It's about time you asserted yourself; just remember who signs your evaluations Greg.”

 

“Yes, sir,” Greg responds, much quieter now.

 

“Why don’t you go home and get some rest.  There’s not much you can do here right now.”

 

“OK, boss,” he says, then heads towards the locker room to collect his things.  As he heads to the locker room he could almost swear he hears Grissom mumbling something about now if only Hodges would grow a pair...but that didn't sound like Grissom....man this case must be affecting him worse than he thought.

 

***

 

Warrick and Nick are walking down the hall headed towards the ballistics lab.  “So,” Warrick begins, “How much do you want to bet that Sanders maxes out his credit card at LadyHeather.com?”

 

Greg walks by and overhears Warrick.  He turns around, walks up behind his two friends and puts his arms around their shoulders.  “I’d take that bet, Nick.”  He turns to Warrick.  “Why would I pay to have my girlfriend dominate me over the internet when as soon as we solve this case, I can have her dominate me for real...for free!”  He pats them both on the back and walks away.

 

“That is way too much info Greggo!” Nick shouts after him.  He turns to Warrick.  “I think I will take you up on that bet, my friend.”

 

“Great, I’ve got $20 that says he’s maxed out his card by the end of the week.”

 

“Alright, I think my boy has more willpower than that.  I give him until the end of the month.  That is, assuming of course, that Jude hasn’t blown this case wide open before then.”

 

They shake hands on the bet and get back to work.

 

***

 

When Greg returns home that evening, he opens up his lap top and logs on to LadyHeather.com.  At the home page, he is greeted with three links to choose from:  Dominate Me; Submit to Me; and I Like to Watch.  Greg chooses the third option, not wanting to throw Jude off her game by showing up at the other end of her web cam.  When asked for a credit card number, he pulls a card out of his pocket and inputs the numbers.  Once the credit card is accepted, he is asked to enter a screen name.  He enters “Stokes36”.

 

“Yeah, we’ll see whose credit card gets maxed out!” he says triumphantly to himself.  As he is browsing the list of Mistresses to watch, he realizes he doesn’t know what name Jude is using for her current profession.  He sees a Mistress Gabrielle and realizes that must be her.  Gabrielle is Jude’s favorite character from Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles, so whom else would she want to model herself after?  When he saw the beautiful red headed goddess come onto the screen, he knew he had chosen correctly.  He watched her fascinated for several hours as she embraced her new role with relish.

 

 

***

Jude comes home the next morning exhausted and frustrated.  She really hopes she solves this case soon.  As much as she enjoys her new role, the lack of physical contact is, in a word, aggravating.  It had only been a few weeks, but she already misses Sanders terribly.  And it isn’t just the physical stuff she misses, although he is exceptionally skilled in that area.  She just misses _him_ , misses talking to him, spending time with him.  She especially misses seeing that goofy grin light up his face whenever she walks into the room.  God, she loves his smile!  But she never expected to miss him so much.  She can’t figure out why she misses him.  Despite what Paul had said, she can’t be in love with him.  After her ordeal with Ivan, she had promised herself that she would never fall in love again.  The hurt far outweighs the rewards. 

 

She goes up to her room and stares at the princess phone on her nightstand, trying to fight the desire to dial that number she has memorized.  At that exact moment, her phone rings.  Jude jumps about six inches off of her bed.  She looks around to make sure no one had seen her moment of weakness.  Confirming that she is, indeed, alone in her room, Jude tentatively answers the phone.  “Hello?”

 

“Jude?  Are you OK?”  Comes the familiar voice from the other end.

 

“Sanders?  Is that you?  Should you even be calling me?”

 

“Why not?  We are only under orders not to see each other.  No one said anything about talking on the phone.  Are you sure you’re OK?”  Greg asks, his voice thick with concern.  “You sounded a little strange when you answered the phone.”

 

Not wanting to admit that the phone startled her, she replies, “Yeah, I’m fine.”

 

“If you’re sure,” he says skeptically.  Greg can’t control his fears of Jude hooking up with her ex-boyfriend in his absence.

 

Jude settles back comfortably onto her bed and pulls the phone closer to her.  It scares her to realize just how comforted she is by the sound of his voice.  Before she can control the words from coming out of her mouth, Jude blurts out, “I’ve really missed you, Sanders.”

 

“Really?” he replies, his voice cracking slightly with happiness and relief.  “I’ve really missed you, too.”

 

They are chatting for about an hour when suddenly Greg gets an alert from his call waiting.  He comes back on the line a few minutes later.  “That’s Sara.  Apparently, she needs me,” he says gallantly, and then hangs up the phone.

 

“What the fuck?  _I_ need to talk to you, too!”  She practically shouts at the dial tone.  “Ugh!  Why is it whenever she calls, it’s as if I no longer exist?” she gripes to her empty room.

 

About 30 minutes later, just as Jude is about to fall asleep, her phone rings again.  “Hello?” she says sleepily into the receiver.  When the voice on the other end says “Hello,” she immediately wakes up and says sarcastically into the phone, “So, your girlfriend is finished with you now?”

 

Greg makes all the appropriate apologies, and, surprisingly, Jude forgives him.  She chides herself for being such a soft touch around this man.  They talk for a while longer until exhaustion gets the better of them and they both fall asleep.

 

***

 

A few days later, after a particularly “grueling” evening of punishing bad little boys and girls, Jude is in particular need of a release, but since she is under strict orders not to see Sanders, she just wants to get some sleep.  When she arrives at home, she finds Sean sitting in the living room with a lap top in front of him.  “It’s 6AM, what are you doing up?  Don’t rock stars sleep until noon?” she asks him.

 

“I haven’t gone to bed yet,” he responds.  “I must say, your new undercover gig _is_ interesting.”

 

“Oh, do you like what you see?”  Jude asks him seductively as she sits next to him and puts a hand on his knee.

 

Sean looks down at her hand.  “What are you doing?”

 

Before she can answer, her cell phone rings.  Her face lights up when she sees the caller ID.  “Hey, Baby,” she answers, and heads up to her room.

 

“You were pretty incredible tonight,” Greg says.

 

“Oh, you were watching me?  Wait, what’s your screen name, anyway?”

 

“Stokes36,” he replies with a chuckle.

 

“Oh thank God that’s you and not Nick.  The idea of him watching me freaks me out a little bit.  Why are you watching me, anyway?”

 

“Well, I have to keep an eye on my girl.”

 

“How very noble of you.  But don’t ever call me a girl again.”

 

“Why?  What are you going to do about it?”

 

“Wouldn’t you like to know...?”

 

“Yeah, I would,” he responds.

 

“You know, I usually charge $9.99 a minute for this.”

 

***

 

The next evening, feeling worse than ever having realized the true depth of her feelings for Sanders, and discovering that mere phone sex is not enough to subdue the growing emptiness inside, she reaches out to her new employer, Lady Heather.  She goes to the mansion earlier than usual.  She walks into Heather’s office and takes the seat on the other side of her desk.

 

“Is everything alright, Jude?”  Lady Heather inquires, puzzled by the unexpected intrusion.  “You know, it is common curtsey to knock on someone’s door before barging in.”

 

“I’m sorry, Lady Heather.  Maybe I should just go home and come back later.”

 

“That’s not necessary.  You obviously have something on your mind.  What is it?”

 

“Is there anything I can do, I don’t know, differently, to help get this guy to attack me sooner so we can close this case?”

 

“You miss your CSI boyfriend, don’t you?”

 

“Am I that obvious, or are you that good?”

 

“Oh, I’m that good.  You are very good at hiding your emotions.  You used to suppress them.  Looks like working here is having a positive influence on you.”

 

“What do you mean?  What could possibly be positive about feeling like this?  You don’t seem to feel anything.”

 

“What you see and what I feel are two different things.”

 

“What’s the difference between hiding your emotions and suppressing them?”

 

“When you suppress your emotions, you don’t deal with them.  You just ignore them until they bubble up and you can no longer control them.  In order to hide your emotions, you must first control them.”

 

Jude listens to her new mentor with rapt attention as Lady Heather continues.

 

“In order to control your emotions, you must first accept that feeling is not a sign of weakness.  It actually takes quite a lot of strength to control your emotions, deal with them.  And once you do that, then you can learn to share them only with those whom you choose.”

 

Jude suddenly switched gears from fascinated student to determined detective.  “Lady Heather, I need to solve this case, soon.”

 

“You really don’t like to let your guard down, do you?”

 

“Do you?” Jude counters.

 

“Touché,” Lady Heather responds.  “The difference is, I’m not hiding from anything.  There are certain people I choose to let my guard down with.  That doesn’t mean I give up my power.  What is so special about this boy of yours that suddenly you’re in such a hurry to solve this case?”

 

“I suppose you won’t believe me if I say I just want to put this bastard behind bars?”

 

“Not a chance,” Heather responds.

 

“He’s just...special,” Jude replies quietly.

 

“There are a lot of things you can give a man:  Your body, your time, even your heart.  But the one thing you can never, ever, ever let go of is your power.”

 

“No worries there,” Jude agrees. 

 

Changing the subject back to the case, Lady Heather says suddenly, “Well, there might be a way to draw this guy out of the woodwork, but I’m not sure if you’re ready.”

 

“You can make me ready.”

 

“Of course I can.  There’s also the fact that Grissom and Brass won’t like it.”

 

“I don’t care if they would like it or not.  I need to solve this case.”

 

“Very well,” Lady Heather responds, “here’s what we can do...”  Heather tells Jude her plan to trap the maniac behind the attacks.

 

***

 

Several days later, while engaging in his almost nightly routine of watching Jude in action (usually followed by his almost nightly phone call) Greg finds something unexpected.  He picks up his laptop and heads straight for Grissom’s office, barging in without knocking.

 

“Greg?  I thought you were at lunch.”

 

“I was.  But I think you should see this.”  He puts the computer on Grissom’s desk and clicks on the link.  The first thing Grissom notices is Greg’s screen name.

 

“Stokes36?  Does Nick know you’re using his credit card?”

 

“Forget about that, just look at what she’s doing.”

 

Grissom watches the computer screen.  What he sees surprises him.  Instead of viewing a feed of Jude in session with an internet client, what he’s seeing is a broadcast of the detective with a live client.  A beautiful blonde woman dressed in red leather was chained up.  Jude, dressed in sliver and black leather and a black mask that just covered her eyes, was working the woman with a whip.

 

“I thought Jude was only supposed to be seeing internet clients,” Greg says, unable to keep the concern out of his voice.

 

“She was.  She’s not authorized for this,” Grissom responds.  “I have to go see Lady Heather.”

 

“I’m going with you.”

 

“No, you’re not.  Stay here.  Get Archie on the surveillance, and make sure Catherine and Brass are staked out by the mansion.”

 

Grissom arrives at Lady Heather’s and knocks on the door.  She answers.  “Grissom,” she says, surprised to see the CSI on her doorstep.

 

“We need to talk,” he says simply.

 

“By all means, come in,” she says, ushering him into the foyer.

 

“Heather, I thought we had a deal, and you broke it.”

 

“Doesn’t feel so good to have your trust broken, does it, Grissom?”

 

“That is neither here nor there, this concerns more than just you and myself.  We are playing with the lives of people that have put their trust into both of us.  You of all people should know that you don’t play with that sort of thing!”

 

“Believe me; Detective Harrison is more than capable of handling herself.  She doesn’t need you or anyone else to protect her.  I never would have given her this client if I didn’t have a good reason.”

 

“What could be a good reason for possibly compromising the case?”

 

“Solving the case.  Detective Harrison needs to close this case, soon.”

 

Grissom was curious about why Lady Heather thought this would help solve the case, but he was even more curious about something else.  “Heather, why didn’t you want me working on this case?”

 

“I didn’t want to cause friction between you and Sara.  I can tell she is uncomfortable with our relationship.”

 

“Sara left me,” Grissom responds simply, though Lady Heather could read the emotion behind his words.

 

Heather takes his hand across the desk.  “Grissom, I’m sorry.”  Those were the only words she could think of to say. 

 

Grissom smiles weakly at her.  He appreciates the sentiment, but their relationship is so complicated now that he really doesn’t know what to say.  Doing what he always does when emotions become too real, Grissom turns the conversation back to the case.  “So, why do you think that pairing Jude up with this client will help solve the case?”

 

“Because each time one of my Dommes would see this client, she would be attacked a few days later.”

 

“And you never thought to tell us this before?” Grissom practically shouts.

 

“I didn’t think it was relevant,” Lady Heather responds, not losing her calm demeanor for even a second.

 

“How can you think it’s not relevant?  For all we know, this client of yours could be working with the attacker!”

 

“I highly doubt that.  Jessica’s Dom is a good friend, and client, of mine.  He’s just a voyeur.  Honestly, I don’t think he has what it takes to attack a dominant female.”

 

“Who is he?”

 

“You know I can’t tell you that, Grissom.  My business thrives on discretion.”

 

“I can get a warrant, you know.”

 

“Go ahead, get one.”

 

“Heather, what happened to us?”  Grissom asks, the words coming out of his mouth before he can stop them.

 

“Your fear of intimacy.”  Heather responds truthfully.

 

Grissom knows she’s right.  He also knows she isn’t going to give up her client’s name without a warrant, whether she thinks he is behind the attacks or not.  He knows she would never give up that little bit of power she held over him.  “I’ll be back with that warrant,” he states, then leaves.

 

About an hour later, Grissom returns with the warrant.  He is surprised he is able to even get one at all, let alone get it so fast.  He slaps the piece of paper down on her desk.  “There’s your warrant.  Now, give me a name.”

 

“Very well.  It’s Steven McCormick.”

 

“Your biggest investor in LadyHeather.com?”

 

“Yes, and he gets quite a lot of use out of it, too, as you can see.”

 

“I see he no longer asks for men to help train his wives.”

 

“No, we both decided he might be better off hiring Dominatrixes.”

 

“So, let me get this straight:  Steven McCormick hires on of your girls to dominate his wife...”

 

“Girlfriend.”

 

“Whatever.  And he, what, watches from the comfort of his own home, and then a few days later, said girl gets attacked?”

 

“Yes.  I believe it may be seeing the live session that sets the psychopath off.”

 

“Well, if this doesn’t work and Detective Harrison ends up getting hurt, _you_ can explain it to the Under Sheriff.”

 

***

 

A few days later, things happen just the way Lady Heather had predicted they would.  Jude is entertaining one of her regular internet clients when she is suddenly attacked.  She is, of course, prepared for this, so when the man attacks her from behind, she is able to reach behind her, and using the man’s weight against him, throw him to the ground.  He punches her in the eye, sending her spiraling to the ground.  He straddles her, pinioning her arms to the ground.  She manages to break free, dislocating her shoulder with a loud POP in the process.  Her adrenaline is pumping so hard, she is oblivious to the pain.  She manages to pull his ski mask off, revealing a dark haired, middle aged man with a goatee.  Jude punches him in the nose, causing him to writhe on the floor in pain.  Captain Brass rushes into the room at that moment, gun drawn and ready to fire.  Jude and her attacker are wrestling on the ground, and Brass can’t get a clean shot.  Jude finally manages to knock the man out and hand cuff him.  She looks down at him.  “You have the right to remain unconscious.”

 

Brass looks down at the attacker.  “Steven McCormick?  I always thought it was just a matter of time before that guy cracked.”  Brass picks up his radio.  “Dispatch, I need a bus out her ASAP.  I have a suspect down and an officer with injuries.”  As he is giving dispatch the address, Catherine and Grissom enter the room with Lady Heather on their heels.

 

“I don’t need an ambulance!”  Jude protests to Brass when she hears him call for a bus.  She then looks down at her attacker and back up at Brass.  “So, who is this guy, anyway?”

 

Lady Heather answers her.  “That is Steven McCormick.  He used to be a good friend of mine.  I wonder why he would do something like this to me.”

 

“You’ll have to wait until he wakes up to get your answer,” Brass states.  “Looks like Jude clocked him pretty good.  He could be out for hours.”

 

“Great, does that mean I’m going to get written up for using excessive force again?” Jude asks.

 

“In this case, I would say you used just the right amount of force,” Brass responds.

 

The EMTs arrived on the scene and take Steven McCormick out on a stretcher.  After much coercion from Brass, Catherine, Grissom, and Lady Heather, Jude finally agrees to ride with the EMTs to the hospital.

 

“Well, I guess I’ll head over to Desert Palms and wait to collect a statement from our favorite widower,” Brass announces.

 

Once all of the police, victims, and suspects had left the room, Grissom takes over the crime scene.  “Catherine, will you go to the hospital and collect evidence from Detective Harrison and Mr. McCormick?  I’ll call Nick in to help me process the room.”

 

“Whatever you say, Gil,” Catherine responds sarcastically, then adds, “You know, I could have sworn this was my case.”

 

“I’ll make it up to you, Catherine, I promise.”

 

“Sure you will,” she replies and leaves the room.

 

“You know, I should probably go to the hospital as well,” Lady Heather states.  “I’d like to find out why Steven would do something like this.  Oh, and Grissom, thank you.”

 

“For what?”

 

“For not saying ‘I told you so.’”

 

Grissom doesn’t respond, he just flashes her his famous “Grissom” smile and starts to process the room.

 

At Desert Palms, one of the ER doctors is having quite a time with a particularly difficult patient.  “I’m fine, really.  Just give me some pain meds and let me go home.”

 

“Detective Harrison, would you please have a seat on the examination table?” the young brunette doctor pleads with her patient.  “You have a dislocated shoulder, and have taken several blows to the head.  You need a CT scan in order to rule out a concussion.”

 

“Fine,” Jude finally agrees and sits on the table.

 

“Good, now is there someone I can have the nurse call for you?”

 

“Can you call my brother, Paul, and have him bring me a change of clothes?”  The clothes she had been wearing were her undercover clothes, and had been covered in blood.  They were bagged up and waiting for Catherine to take them back to the lab.

 

“I’ll be glad to take care of that for you, Detective,” the petite nurse responds.

 

Jude gives the nurse her brother’s number, and sits, dejectedly letting the doctor finish her exam.

 

About 45 minutes later, Paul makes it to the hospital carrying one of Jude’s camouflaged duffle bags.  “I’m here to see my sister, Detective Jude Harrison,” he says breathlessly to the woman at the desk.

 

The nurse hits a few keys on her computer before responding to him.  “I’m afraid you can’t see her now, she’s in surgery.”

 

“Surgery?  Are you sure?  She was just supposed to be treated for a dislocated shoulder and a concussion.”

 

“The ER doctor can explain more to you, sir.”  The nurse flags down the pretty brunette doctor who had been treating Jude.  “Dr. Frances, this is Detective Harrison’s brother.”

 

“Mr. Harrison, I’m afraid your sister’s injuries are more severe than we thought.  While she was in the CT scan, she started hemorrhaging badly.  We had to take her to surgery right away.  I’ll have a nurse show you to the surgical waiting area.”

 

A couple of hours later, Paul is sitting in the recovery room with his sister, waiting for her to awaken from the sedatives so that the doctor can explain to her what had happened.  Her blue green eyes flutter open.  When she looks into her brother’s brown eyes, at first she is confused, thinking she’s looking into someone else’s eyes.  “Sanders?” she mutters weakly.

 

“No, sis, it’s just me,” Paul responds.  “I can call him if you want me too, though.”

 

Jude’s eyes fly open at that moment as she realizes where she is.  “No!  Don’t call him.  I don’t want him to see me like this.  He’ll just worry.”

 

“OK, sis, you’re the boss.  Here comes the doctor.”

 

An attractive blonde man walks over to the bed.  “Detective Harrison, I’m Dr. Carlisle, I’m the OB surgeon that operated on you.”

 

“Wait...OB surgeon?  Doc, what is going on?  I’m just supposed to be treated for a concussion.”

 

“Detective, you started bleeding during your CT scan.  We had to perform an emergency D&C.  I’m afraid you’ve had a miscarriage.”

 

“Oh no.  No, no.  This can’t be!”  Jude starts to mumble under her breath, trying hard to fight the tears welling up in her eyes.

 

Meanwhile, in another hospital room, Captain Brass is having a confrontation of his own.  “Mr. McCormick, what, exactly do you have against Lady Heather?  I thought she was a goddess amongst your crowd.”

 

“That bitch ruined my life.  She is responsible for the death of my wife.”

 

“No, Chloe Samms is responsible for your wife’s murder, and she is safely behind bars.”

 

“If it wasn’t for Lady Heather, my wife would never have met those gigolos.”

 

“So, what, you just thought you’d attack the women who work for her?  Try to ruin her internet business?  Well, I guess the joke is on you.  We’ve got you on tape attacking Detective Harrison.  You’ll be in jail for quite some time.”

 

“It was one of your detectives who put me in here?  I’m going to sue her...and the city.”

 

“Good luck with that,” Brass responds sardonically.

 

***

 

A few days later, Paul is helping Jude gather up her personal belongings from her hospital room.  Having one arm in a sling made the job a little more difficult, and she was grateful to have the help. 

 

“So, sis, I have some good news...and some great news.”

 

“OK, spill it, bro!”

 

“Well, my band just signed a contract to be the house band for the Hard Rock Casino!  And before you even think it, no, we’re not going to be living with you until the end of time.  Mom got us a town house of our own.  The other guys have already moved in, but I’m gonna stay with you until you’ve recovered.”

 

“Really, Paul, that won’t be necessary.”

 

“You only have one good arm.  Let someone take care of you for once.  Wouldn’t you rather it be me than your boyfriend?”

 

“Fine.”

 

“Excellent.  So, do you want me to take you home, or do you want to get something to eat?”

 

Jude looks at her watch.  “Actually, can you drop me off at the Crime Lab?  It’s almost the end of graveyard shift.  I’ll have Sanders take me home.”

 

“Are you going to tell him what happened?”

 

Jude looks at Paul, looking quite like a deer in the headlights.  “No.  No way.  He doesn’t need to know.”

 

“Doesn’t he?  I mean, I assume he’s the father.”

 

“Father of what?  The doctor said I wasn’t more than 8 weeks along.  That hardly counts as a real baby.”

 

Paul looks at his sister like she had lost her mind, but if denial is how she chooses to handle this situation, then so be it.  “OK, fine, don’t tell him.  But deal with the consequences.”

 

“Just take me to the lab, OK?”

 

“Yes, ma’am!”  Paul responds with a salute.

 

***

 

“CSI Sanders, you have a visitor.”  Comes the announcement over the loud speaker.  When he gets to the reception area, he sees someone he hadn’t expected to see:  Jude.  After her wrestling match, he expected her to be in the hospital for a lot longer.  She is wearing his favorite hot pink plaid mini skirt and a white tee shirt.  Even though her left arm is in a sling and her right eye is black and blue, she is still the most beautiful sight he had ever seen.  “Jude,” he says, emotion catching in his throat.

 

She looks up at the sound of his voice and makes her way quickly to him.  She flings herself into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist and supporting herself with her good arm.  He holds her tightly to him and they kiss passionately for several minutes before she slips from his grip and stands looking up at him.

 

“Are you OK?” he asks, looking her over.

 

“I’m fine, except for this highly attractive shiner I’ll be sporting for weeks.  And, I’m starving.  Hospital food sucks.”

 

“Well, lets get you some food, then,” Greg says as he drapes his arm around her shoulders and leads her out.  On their way out, Greg turns back to Judy and says, “Tell Grissom I’m taking the rest of the night off!”

 

At Frank’s Diner, Jude is enjoying a rather large bacon cheeseburger and a strawberry shake.  Greg is having a BLT and fries.  While they are talking and catching up, Greg’s cell phone rings.  “Hi Sara, what’s up?”

 

Jude takes the phone from him and says to the girl on the other end, “Please quit calling my boyfriend.  Don’t you have one of your own you should be calling?”  She hangs up the phone.

 

Greg looks at her and says, “So, I’m your boyfriend now?”

 

“Not if you don’t want to be!” Jude replies, taking his hand and biting it playfully.

 

Greg’s phone rings again.  He answers it, listens, and then hands it over to Jude.  “It’s for you,” he informs her.

 

Sara’s voice comes across the line.  “You don’t know a thing about me and Grissom or about me and Greg.  What right do you have to...?”

 

“Listen, Sweetie,” Jude cuts her off, “I’m the queen of keeping deep dark secrets from the ones I care about the most, and do you know what I’ve learned?  I’ve learned that it sucks.  I don’t know what it is you’re hiding, but if you seriously want to make it work with Grissom, he’s the one you need to be talking to, not Greg.”  Jude hangs up the phone and hands it back to Greg.

 

Sara is sitting just outside the diner in a nondescript sedan.  She had been watching the happy couple for the better part of an hour now, talking, laughing, and holding hands.  She knew things would never be the same, knew she would never be the same.  For years, no matter how much she was in love with Grissom, she always knew she had Greg there.  To flirt with her, make her laugh, he was always good to boost her up when she was feeling down.  She just assumed he’d always be there, waiting in the wings.  But Greg was moving on now, and she had blown it with Grissom.  Sara slowly pulled away from the diner, not sure where her life would take her now.


End file.
